As stated by Tim Winton in Tim Winton, the writer and his work by Micheal McGirr, "The Swan River is integral to Perth the river is neutral ground. People do everything odd and ordinary by the river." This text furthers the idea of the importance of the river, by representing important events by the river. Australians are identified as people who spend an excessive amount of time outdoors as a result of our ideal climate, this text immediately represents that. Not only are the characters enjoying the outdoors and the land, they are enjoying the simple aspects of life, like mateship, happiness and family. The text confirms the ideals of simple life on page one "Will you look at us by the river! The whole restless mob of us spread blankets in the dreamy briny sunshine- This ultimately confirms aspects of both the values of the working class and Australia's cultural identity. It highlights the importance of the river by signifying that the characters are happy - "restless" to begin the day's festivities. The use of second person point of view is effective here in highlighting the enjoyment of the characters by the river. It allows an effective and complex picture to be illustrated, making the representation even more effective. Ultimately the importance of the land, more specifically, the river confirms a notorious aspect of Australia's cultural identity. The important portrayal of the river adds and confirms to how the identity of Australia's culture is represented in this particular context.
The representation of the simple things in this text, foreshadowed by the prologue, gives us an insight to the dominant class of this text. The class is that is predominantly represented in this text, and confirmed is working class; a class which has to compensate the expensive and material things in life for the simple values, a notion which is confirmed by this text. The working class is the main group represented in this text in order to highlight their values.
